Page 3 of The Cocky Neighbor

"Later," I said, checking my watch. It was five minutes past seven, so the daytime staff should have all arrived by now. "I'd like to introduce myself first. Please have theavailablestaff gather in the staff lounge."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to have the tour first? It would also give my coworkers more time to complete their morning tasks." Alfred tugged at his tie, and I could practically see the anxiety rolling off of him. He was hiding something, and I didn't like having my orders questioned.

"It will only take a minute," I said as I stared him down, leaving no room for argument in my tone.

He gulped, swallowing whatever rebuttal he had at the tip of his tongue before speaking again, "Of course. I'll have the troops gather there now." He shot a quick glance at the main entrance before turning to speak with the other receptionists at the front desk. All but one of them followed him.

"That was weird," I said to Ava as I watched their backs disappear into the staff area. "Why did he look like he was guilty of something?"

"It was suspicious, indeed. Maybe he was nervous? You can be pretty intimidating," Ava suggested, but the look she gave me said we both knew that was bullshit. Alfred acted suspicious, but he didn't seem like the kind of guy to be fazed by his superiors.

We followed them to the back area of the hotel and took a seat while Alfred gathered those who could be spared. I knew my visit today was sudden and myrequest to have everyone gather right this instant was a bit unreasonable, but I wanted to see how the employees reacted under pressure of the unknown. Our job was to satisfy all our guests' needs and that meant solving whatever problems they had or didn't even know they had, even if it was under pressure.

"If I remember correctly, the hotel manager's name is Eric? I don't see him around." I looked around the staff lounge, trying to place each face with the employee roaster I had. All of the manager level roles were here as well besides the dark haired general manager. Alfred was directing people to gather in the area, but his eyes also drifted all around the room, glancing multiple times toward the back of the lounge as if waiting for someone to arrive.

I finally understood why the assistant manager was acting so strangely. Our elusive manager was late, and on the day that I was expected to be here. That wasn't a good look for him, and it also made me wonder if this was a regular occurrence, which wouldn't reflect well on the management of this hotel branch at all. Perhaps I'd need to be a little more involved with the management of this hotel than I'd originally anticipated.

A quarter past seven and the room was filled with people gathered in groups, whispering as they snuck peeks at me. Their gazes were piercing, but it was nothing new. I was used to having eyes on me, being a son from the Wright family and all.

Alfred was hovering closest to me, still acting suspicious as hell, but keeping his professional front up for the most part. I raised a brow when I finally caught his eye. He shot one last hopeful look toward the back before turning to give me a nod.

I had to give them points for gathering so quickly—minus a certain manager, of course. Standing to face the crowd, I cleared my throat, making sure to put all my authoritative force behind it as I could. The room fell silent as I'd commanded, and all eyes turned to me.

As they said, eyes were the mirrors to one's soul. If you paid close enough attention, you could discover a lot of what someone was thinking through their eyes. Growing up surrounded by people who hid behind their mask of politeness, I'd quickly learned to read between the lines, past the fake front that they'd put up.

The employees of Roslyn Hotel had nothing on Corio City's socialites. They didn't even attempt to hide their emotions behind their gazes. Curiosity. Intrigue. Hostility. And even attraction from both the men and women.

Interesting.

Not that I would ever shit where I ate, but I liked being surrounded by a diverse team. Corio City was a very accepting city, but no place could be completely free of bigots.

"Good morning. Thank you all for gathering on such short notice. My name is Liam Wright, and I'm here as the representative from the Wright Group. As you all have been informed, we have acquired the Roslyn Hotel chains under our banner. Ava will be assisting me as my right-hand woman," I said, gesturing to the person standing next to me before continuing, "We will try to make the transition as easy as possible, and that's what I'm here for. Firstly, I want to assure everyone that there will be no change in staffing—" I saw more than a handful of people noticeably let out a sigh of relief. "—provided that everyone does their job efficiently and effectively."

A few of them glanced around nervously at my last comment—and I made a mental note to keep my eye out for them in the future—but everyone else seemed relaxed for the most part. It was reassuring to see that most of the employees didn't have a guilty conscience.

"Secondly, we have no plans to make any major changes, only tweaks to make sure all processes conform with the Wright standards. I've looked over the history of the hotel, and I applaud everyone for their hard work thus far. It's clear that Roslyn Hotel is one of the best in the city for a reason, and I strive for us to keep this title."

I looked through the crowd to see a majority of the staff puff up with pride at my words. Another good sign. If this was just another job to make a buck for them, they wouldn't care how well the hotel did. I firmly believed that work shouldn't be one's entire life, but if an employee had a personal investment with their company, they were more likely to be more committed toward their work, which was good for us.

"I don't want to delay anyone's morning, so I'll keep this short. We will be rolling out new procedures over the coming weeks. If anyone has any questions or issues, you can direct them to myself or Ava. I look forward to working with everyone," I said, finishing my little speech.

Everyone gave me their obligatory applause as they waited, probably for me to dismiss them. I held up a hand to quiet them. "One more thing before you're all dismissed, I'd like to speak with the general manager. Where is he?"

The room went deathly quiet. So quiet that I could hear the clock ticking from somewhere in the room. I raised a brow at Alfred, who looked to be brainstorming any kind of excuse to give me for the missing manager. Just as he opened his mouth, a deep voice sounded from behind the crowd of people. "Why are you all gathered here?"

Fuck.Now that was one sexy voice. And if I wasn't standing in front of a group of people I was meant to lead, I might have gone to thoroughly investigate who that voice belonged to.Fortunatelyfor me, the mystery was soon solved as the crowd split and a handsome man appeared in my view.

Hello, Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome.

I pushed those thoughts away. We were in the staff lounge, and if he was here, it meant that he worked here. And there was no way I was going to fool around and make thingsmessy.I had a job to do, and I intend to see it completed with perfection.

The newcomer looked confused as he walked down the path the others made for him. Appreciation flicked through his eyes as his hot gaze landed on my face, that quickly turned to surprise then realization. He spun his head toward Alfred, looking for answers, I'd assumed. Alfred mouthed an apology, leading me to believe that he was precisely the manager that I was looking for. There wouldn't have been any questions if he was on time.

"Great of you to finally join us, Mr. Wells," I said. He turned back around at the sound of my voice. His eyes wide with what appeared to be shock and a hint of embarrassment. Eric may not have been the most punctual man, but he had to be one of the most expressive I'd met. Most attempted to hide their emotions, but I didn't think he even cared.

"I'm very sorry about my tardiness. The traffic today was horrible, and the weather didn't help…" He chuckled as he waved his hands around as if they were just as much part of the conversation as his mouth.

"I'm not looking for apologies. I look at actions, and your actions tell me that punctuality is not your strong suit." As soon as the words left my mouth, a small vein popped out on Eric's forehead. It was so easy to rile him up that I couldn't help but let out a low chuckle, which didn't help matters as Eric's expression darkened even further.

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